Is that the Best You Can Do? - Pt 3

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God. (John 3:16-21 ESV).

 

Recently I read a story of a little girl sitting beside her mother in a worship service while the pastor taught from the story of Adam and Eve. She looked at her mother and whispered, “Mom, can’t Adam and Eve go to heaven now?” She understood that something very serious had happened, and she wondered if anything or anyone could undo the damage done on that day. She was asking the right question. After all of that, could anyone really just pick up the pieces of their broken lives and move on? Or are we faced with the dilemma of the old nursery rhyme: “Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall; Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again.” Our meme today quotes a wonderful proclamation that is underscored in our reading. God’s promise is one of restoration and redemption.

 

What no one else could do, God did by sending his Son, Jesus Christ. Through his death and resurrection Jesus ushered in the kingdom of heaven, and by believing in him we can enter that kingdom. Most of you know this truth. In fact, it may have been the first verse (John 3:16) committed to memory. I wonder how often, when our lives fall to the ground and break into smaller and smaller pieces with each painful circumstance, do we remember the love of God and the redemptive act He has accomplished through His only begotten Son.

 

Years ago a religious magazine printed a cartoon of two people talking to each other, with one person saying, “Talk, talk, talk. That’s all religion ever is — just a lot of talk.” On the next page were drawings of a newborn baby, a cross, and an open grave. Underneath the drawing was the question “You call that talk?” The creator of the universe refused to let go, and the Apostle John remembers the words and actions of Jesus so clearly in his writing. God is indeed restoring all of His creation. Rejoice in that you are a part of that when you are born again! This really is more than merely the best that can be done… it is THE best!